


Fragments of the Future

by destieldrabblesdaily



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7417840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destieldrabblesdaily/pseuds/destieldrabblesdaily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An art project forces Castiel to think about how he sees his future. Sadly, the assignment also makes him painfully aware of whom he wants to be with in said future, because there's no way that his best friend Dean feels the same... Or is there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fragments of the Future

Castiel huffed irritably as he restlessly tapped his paintbrush against the blank sheet of paper, biting his lip as he silently begged for some kind of muse to pay him a visit. Of all the art projects that Mr. Henriksen could’ve picked, he had chosen this theme.

_‘Fragments of the future; Where do you see yourself ten years from now?’_

Right. Did he truly expect a bunch of teenagers to have their entire lives planned out at the age of sixteen? Because if you asked Castiel, that was a ridiculous assumption.

With a sigh of pure dread, Castiel decided to start at the beginning, hesitantly painting a figure with dark hair and blue eyes to represent himself. Once he was finished with that, he blacked out again, and he peeked to his left to see how his friend Charlie was doing.

To Castiel’s bewilderment, she didn’t seem to have any trouble with the assignment at all. Her face was covered in paint, and colorful images were already staring back at Castiel. One of them showed Charlie sitting behind a computer in a fancy apartment, a cat in her lap. Standing behind her was a girl with long brown hair, one hand on Charlie’s shoulder. Gilda, of course, the girl that Charlie had been interested in for months now.

Castiel quickly averted his eyes, not feeling any better about himself. He glanced to his right this time, where his friend Benny was sitting. Benny was a less talented painter than Charlie for sure, but there was no lack of enthusiasm, and the painting was obvious enough. There was a grill restaurant named ‘ _Benny’s_ ’, and Benny was standing in front of it with a bright smile, holding hands with a beautiful lady. She was wearing a white dress; his girlfriend Andrea, Castiel concluded.

Great, just wonderful. All of them had it all figured out, and then there was Castiel, chaotic and eternally indecisive. Sure enough, he knew what he enjoyed.  Writing, reading, nature… He simply didn’t know yet how he wanted it all to add up, and he’d never felt bad about it, that was until this project of doom made him feel like a complete idiot. Not to mention, this assignment also made him painfully aware of _whom_ he wanted to be with in the future.

After seeing Charlie’s fantasies about a future with Gilda, and Benny’s dream to marry Andrea, Castiel realized that there was only one person in the world that he wanted like that. That he wouldn’t ever want to be without, even ten years from now. But that was impossible, that was-

“Cas? Hey, you okay, buddy? You look a little out of it.”

Castiel dropped his brush when he was unexpectedly pulled out of his thoughts, and he frowned at the large blue dot on the table that was definitely his doing.

Slowly, reluctantly, Castiel lifted his chin and found himself looking into soft green eyes. Eyes that were filled with concern. Eyes that belonged to his best friend Dean, who was sitting across from him. 

Castiel hadn’t been able to gather the courage to check out Dean’s painting, but now that Dean was forcing Castiel to look his way, he caught a glimpse of it.

He’d painted a huge building surrounded by cars, and Castiel spotted the words ‘Dean’s garage’. Dean was leaning against one of the cars, a classic. So far, so good. But then Castiel’s eyes fell on the hand that was on Dean’s shoulder, the hand belonging to a lady with long blonde hair.

“I-I’m fine, Dean.” Castiel choked out, even though that was as far from the truth as possible. “Headache, it will pass.” He added quickly.

He lowered his eyes to his own painting again, wanting to hide from Dean. Who could it be? Jo? Ann Marie? Not like it made a difference; Dean knew what he wanted for his future, and it wasn’t Castiel.

Never had he could’ve guessed that a broken heart truly hurt _that much_. It was like trying to breathe underwater. Like being kicked in the stomach repeatedly, while feeling completely empty inside.

When gentle fingers lightly curled around Castiel’s wrist, Castiel flinched. Looking up, he saw that it was Dean, who had reached for him and wasn’t letting go, eyeing Castiel with worry.

“Dude, I’ve known you for ten years, I know when you’re lying.” Dean called him out without missing a beat, raising his eyebrows expectantly. “Something’s wrong, talk to me, man.”

One last peek at Dean’s drawing and Castiel lost it, pulling his arm out of Dean’s hold, almost knocking over his chair when he got up from his seat.

“You’re right, I’m really not feeling well, I have to go.” Castiel blurted out while Dean, Charlie and Benny exchanged puzzled looks.

Castiel collected his things and hastily excused himself, offering Mr. Henriksen a lame lie about killer migraines, before all but running out of the building.

It was raining outside, but Castiel didn’t care, and he stopped to wrap his arms around his chest as the rain soaked him. Dean had been his ride, so he was going to have to walk home.

Everything was aching, but most of all his heart. Deep down, he’d always known that Dean wasn’t something that he could keep forever, and that the handsome Winchester boy probably only saw him as a good friend. Dean would inevitably find love with someone else and move on, it had always been in the cards. Regardless, there was nothing worse than to see the undeniable evidence on paper.

Castiel kept walking and walking as a storm of thoughts raged on in his head. At least the rain made sure to wash away his tears…

~

Three hours. He’d been staring at the wall for three hours now, sitting there on the dusty floor of that old tree house that his big brother Gabriel built for him in their back yard years ago. When Dean and Castiel were younger, this had been their special place.

Everything about it felt wrong now, yet this was where Castiel had gone, hoping to avoid nosy family members and their annoying questions.

It had stopped raining, and the setting sun was creeping in through one of the tiny windows, bathing the small space in a warm glow.

Castiel’s gaze rested on some of their old trophies on the wall; a picture of the two of them where they were covered in mud, an old Batman poster, and a drawing, made by Dean when they were ten years old. It was the two of them, holding hands. Castiel had wings, feathers black and cerulean. Ever since Dean’s mother had first explained that Castiel was named after an angel, Dean had always been strangely fascinated by that fact.

Looking at it now, Castiel sniffled. One day, he was no longer going to be the most important person in Dean’s life.

“Cas?”

Castiel turned his head, startled, his heart skipping a beat or two. Climbing inside was Dean, immediately smiling when he saw that Castiel was indeed hiding in the tree house.

“Hey you.” He greeted cautiously, sitting down beside Castiel on the floor without waiting for an invitation. “Gabriel said that you were probably here.”

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel stoically replied, not really looking at Dean, instead staring a hole in the floor.

A short silence, and then a hand was placed on Castiel’s knee. He winced, but didn’t pull away.

“I get that you don’t wanna talk about whatever is going on, but I ehm… I came to bring you your homework.” Dean began, his thumb brushing against Castiel’s knee. “The painting, I mean. You weren’t finished, but Henriksen said that you can finish it at home because you got sick, as long as you hand it in before the end of next week.”

Castiel now noticed the sheets of paper in Dean’s other hand, remaining silent when Dean handed him his unfinished drawing. It was Castiel. Only Castiel. Surrounded by a big sea of white, and empty, and _nothing._

“I told Henriksen that mine wasn’t finished either, so I took it with me as well.” Dean said conversationally, squeezing Castiel’s knee, not sounding too bothered by Castiel’s lack of response. “That was a lie though, it’s done. Just needed to take it with me because I have to show it to you, because it’s important. And I know today maybe isn’t the right time, because you’re clearly upset about something, but what I want to show you is a good thing… I hope.”

There was a nervous chuckle from Dean, and Castiel’s head snapped up at that. His first instinct was to protest when Dean handed him another painting; Dean’s own painting. Castiel didn’t want to look at it ever again.

But he was a masochist, and he blinked down at Dean’s art nevertheless.

Confusion was the only emotion that Castiel experienced at first. Dean had added a lot of people to his work of art. Right beside the blonde woman that Castiel had seen earlier, were standing two males. One of them had black hair and was holding the woman’s hand, the other was tall with shaggy brown hair.

“I’m no van Gogh, but that’s mom, next to me. And dad, and Sammy all grown up. I want all of them alive and happy in the future.” Dean patiently explained everything, but Castiel barely heard a word of what Dean was saying, because he’d been too busy looking at the person standing on the _other_ side of Dean, holding hands with Dean.

Dark hair, blue eyes, the blue sweater that Castiel happened to be wearing today, and… wings. Black and cerulean feathers.

Castiel didn’t realize that he was crying until teardrops stained the drawing. And then two arms were there to make it all better, holding him close.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’ve got you.” Dean whispered next to his ear, his hands soothingly caressing Castiel’s back and shoulders. “Whatever’s wrong, we can talk about it whenever you want I just… I thought about this a lot and I had to tell you that this is how I see my future because- Cas, I don’t know what I’d do if I can’t share it with _my angel_ , and I hope that you’re, you know… Cool with that.”

His arms tightening around Dean’s neck, Castiel fervently nodded against Dean’s shoulder.

“Yes, Dean. _Please._ ”

The place where they’d exchanged their deepest secrets, where they’d had their first fight, and where they’d first vowed to be friends forever, now also would become the place where they’d shared their first kiss.

And Castiel? All of a sudden he was very excited to finish his drawing. In fact, it was the first thing on his to-do list as soon as he’d be finally able to stop kissing the boy he loved.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Destiel stories, go to destieldrabblesdaily.tumblr.com


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